Zaidiyyah

The Zaidiyyah are a group of Shia Islam named for the Prophet Muhammad's great-great-grandson Zaid.  While Zaid's brother Muhammad was designated to succeed their father as religious leader, Zaidis claim Zaid as the rightful successor because he actively resisted the corrupt rulers while his brother abstained from politics. While most Shia ascribe the Imam's religious and temporal power to certain descendants of Zaid's brother, the Zaidis look for any descendant of Ali who fights corruption.

While Zaidis are considered Shia because their religious leaders are descended from Ali, in law and in theology, they somewhat resemble Sunni Islam. While the Zaidis initially lived throughout the Muslim world, today they mostly live in northern Yemen, where Zaidi religious leaders ruled for over a thousand years, until 1962. While Yemeni politics are secular, some Zaidis are fighting to return to the former system, citing the corruption of Ali Abdullah Saleh's government.

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